The views expressed in the recent article by Harmony Rodriguez of the Philadelphia Local Committee of the Multinational Communist Party are, in my view, an ideological justification for a regime whose interests are entirely opposed to those of the international working class. The article is mostly a textual analysis of the ideology underpinning the Communist Party of Vietnam. A basic premise, however, that never seems to be touched throughout the entire article is “Is the Communist Party of Vietnam actually Communist?” All the crimes of the Communist Party of Vietnam can be swept under the rug as mere errors that need to be fixed if this question is not handled, and that is precisely what this article has done.

So, let us begin by considering what communism actually is. There are certain invariant principles laid out by Engels in “Principles of Communism” that serve as an introduction to the “Communist Manifesto”. It is in this latter work where Marx says it plainly:

In short, the Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things.^[1]

Any movement that does not meet this basic stance is not a communist movement or a Marxist movement. It is this question that this letter studies. The proletarian movement is ultimately an internationalist one. If the policy of a self-proclaimed communist state everywhere else is a policy of fighting revolution, it cannot be called a communist state.

The Communist Party of Vietnam, as Harmony Rodriguez notes, has a close relationship with Israel. This relationship consists of a massive amount of trade, including the fact that Israel is Vietnam’s second largest supplier of military weaponry. The war occurring between Israel and the Palestinian resistance is a national liberation war with a communist element—namely the PFLP, DFLP and other groups.

Consider also Vietnam’s support and training for the fascist Tatmadaw in Burma. Vietnam invested over US$1,300,000,000 in Mytel in Burma^[2], a telecommunications joint-venture by the fascist Tatmadaw and Viettel, owned by the People's Army of Vietnam. Through this venture, Vietnam has aided in the financial enrichment of the fascist Tatmadaw and provided it with much-needed surveillance powers in targeting the anti-fascist movement of Burma. They have also directly provided arms and equipment to the Tatmadaw. All of this support allowed the Tatmadaw to seize power in 2021, and since then Vietnam’s ties with the Tatmadaw have only strengthened. Hope is not lost, however; the Tatmadaw is currently fighting against actual communist, socialist, and democratic revolutionaries across the nation who wish to overthrow the military dictatorship.

Consider also that Vietnam is one of the Philippines’ closest military allies. As a result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Defense Cooperation in 2010, it collaborates on military education with the fascist Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has also now signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Information Technology and Digital Transformation Cooperation^[3] in preparation for the Pax-Silica venture led by America and Israel. As part of Pax Silica, poor farm workers, indigenous peoples, and small farmers will lose their livelihood to pave the way for the formation of a new manufacturing hub in the Philippines that shall directly supply Israeli tech and military companies as they commit genocide in Palestine. The Armed Forces of the Philippines have butchered thousands of peasants and workers in every attempt under the sun to shut down the national democratic revolution. Most recently was the Toboso 19 massacre, and also now the disappearance of two activists.^[4]

There is so much more to be said, but I shall leave it here: under what definition of communism is being one of the primary sponsors in the world of the butchering of communists and resistance fighters by fascists “communism”? Any suggestion to the contrary flies in the face of the most basic principles of Marxism.

The defense by these revisionists is always that the 'Commanding Heights of the Economy' are state-controlled. Well, there is another nation in the past that has been a major exporter of world fascism, military dictatorship, and a perpetrator of genocide, who also nationalized the banks and major industry: Fascist Italy. Long live Marxism-Leninism-Mussolini Thought!

1. Marx, Karl. 1848. “Communist Manifesto (Chapter 4).” Marxists.Org. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch04.htm.

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2. “How Hundreds of Millions of Dollars from Mytel Subscribers Will Flow to Military Generals | Justice For Myanmar.” 2021. Justiceformyanmar.Org. 2021. https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/how-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-from-mytel-consumers-will-flow-to-military-generals.

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3. Cabato, Luisa. 2026. “PH, Vietnam Expand Cooperation on Defense, Trade, Digital Transformation.” INQUIRER.Net. June 2026. https://globalnation.inquirer.net/325588/ph-vietnam-expand-cooperation-on-defense-trade-digital-transformation.

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4. ICHRP Secretariat. 2026. “Press Release – Fact Finding Mission in Negros Disproves Military Claims; Confirms Civilian Casualties in Toboso 19 Massacre | International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines.” Ichrp.Net. May 16, 2026. https://ichrp.net/press-release-fact-finding-mission-in-negros-disproves-military-claims-confirms-civilian-casualties-in-toboso-19-massacre/.

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